True Grit

So this weekend I gave myself the little project of seeing all of the films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Before this weekend I had seen Black Swan, Inception, The Social Network, and Toy Story 3. Left for me to watch: The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, True Grit and Winter's Bone. Luckily, I immediately found a nicely working link for True Grit online. People had been raving about the film, particularly about Hailee Steinfeld's acting. Needless to say, I was skeptical. I had never heard of this girl. She hadn't been in anything of note before True Grit. Second of all, the girl is 14-years old. Yeah. 14. How good can any 14-year old really be? However, being a fan of everything ever being connected to the Coen Brothers (e.g. The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, Fargo -- he's fleeyun' the interview! --, Burn After Reading -- you're Mormon, next to you everyone's an alcoholic -- etc) , I thought I should give Hailee and True Grit a chance.

To start, Hailee Steinfeld was bloody effing brilliant. Like, AMAZEBALLS brilliant. A sample of the words that came out of my mouth at age 14: Dude sweeeet, that's hella awesome, YOUR MOM, like like like like LIKE, make me look like a huge California tool compared to the lines that Hailee's Mattie Ross was spitting out: "You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another. There is nothing free except the grace of God." Although the words spoken were those of Mattie Ross, the candor, eloquence, and grit (natch) was all Hailee. She just absolutely stole the film.

Although fantastic per usual, Jeff Bridge's Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon's LaBoeuf couldn't hold a candle to Steinfeld's Mattie Ross. There were a number of scenes that left me short of breath. The scene in which Mattie refuses to be treated like an infant and instead of remaining behind to let Rooster and LaBoeuf go and catch Tom Cheney (Josh Brolin in a brief and totally ordinary appearance), the man who killed Mattie's father for 2 California gold coins and a mare when he had been nothing but cordial to him, she wades stubbornly yet successfully across a deep river that would surely have led to a wet demise were she a less headstrong young woman left me with my mouth agape. Without a word she rides up behind the bewildered Rooster and LaBoeuf as if to say "Nuh uh, boys you ain't gettin' rid of this bad ass teenager that easily *snap snap snap*" (She, of course, would have of course put it much more eloquently).

As the phrase is often perpetuated in dime store philosophy, the journey is more important than the destination in True Grit. The relationships that grow between Mattie and Rooster, then Mattie and LaBoeuf, and lastly, Rooster and LaBoeuf are much more significant than the gang actually catching up to Cheney and subsequently killing him. Mattie finally finds the peace she's been seeking by avenging her father's wrongful death but not until the last 15 minutes of the film or so.

All in all, I highly enjoyed True Grit. Many people were prematurely upset by the Joel and Ethan straying from their typical quirky film style to remake a John Wayne western from the 1960s. I have to say that, yes, it's an adjustment, but a positive one. It was nice to see that the brothers are more than capable of successfully creating something so out of the norm for them.

At this point in my Oscar Best Pic nom viewing here is my ranking of the films in order of personal preference. (1 --> 5, favorite --> least favorite)

1. Black Swan
2. Inception
3. True Grit
4. Toy Story 3
5. The Social Network

Sometimes I feel as though I'm the only person on the planet who didn't find the Social Network as being the film representation of the Second Coming. Please, tell me I'm not alone! I love Jesse Eisenberg, don't get me wrong, I've loved him since The Squid and the Whale, but man, how can you put him in the Best Actor category when he hardly speaks during the film?! It also upsets me that Hailee was lumped in the Best SUPPORTING Actress category when she is the LEADING actress in True Grit. She's the only one! What other actress in the film is she to be supporting, pray tell? Oh well, I suppose the fact that she's nominated at all at the age of 14 is nothing to snub one's nose at. Team Hailee!